in hand.

The spring found him of course in the full tide of Eton interests.
The sixth and upper fifth forms, to the latter of which he had by
this time attained, may contend in the public examination for the
Newcastle scholarship, just before the Easter holidays, and it is a
great testimony to a boy's ability and industry if his name appears
among the nine select for their excellence. This time, 1843, Coley,
who was scarcely sixteen, had of course but little chance, but he had
the pleasure of announcing that his great friend, Edmund Bastard, a
young Devonshire squire, was among the 'select,' and he says of
himself: 'You will, as I said before, feel satisfied that I did my
best, but it was an unlucky examination for me. It has done me a
great deal of good in one way. It has enabled me to see where I am
particularly deficient, viz. general knowledge of history, and a
thorough acquaintance with Greek and Roman customs, law courts and
expressions, and Greek and Roman writers. I do not find myself
wanting in making out a stiff bit of Greek or Latin if I have time,
but I must read History chiefly this year, and then I hope to be
selected next time. My tutor is not at all disappointed in me.'

This spring, 1843, Patteson became one of the Eleven, a perilously
engrossing position for one who, though never slurring nor neglecting
his studies, did not enjoy anything so much as the cricket-field.
However, there the weight of his character, backed by his popularity
and proficiency in all games and exercises, began to be a telling
influence.

On November 2, 1843, when the anniversary of his mother's death was
coming round, he writes to his eldest sister:--